Daily Life of the Egyptian Gods (Paperback)

~ (Author), Christine Favard-Meeks (Author), G. M. Goshgarian (Translator) "Well before Champollion deciphered the hieroglyphic writing system in 1822, ancient Egyptian religion had excited people's curiosity and astonishment..." (more)
Key Phrases: Primeval Ocean, House of Life, Elder Horus (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The Egyptian religion was grounded in a thought system so totally foreign to the Western mind that it presents an almost unbridgeable conceptual gap. The Meekses?Dimitri (Universite de Provence) and Christine (Sorbonne)?attempt in this translation of their La vie quotidienne des dieux egyptiens (Hachette, 1993) to enable us to enter this strange world by observing the daily life of the gods and appreciating the inner logic of their activities. This is a difficult task because the authors must work from scattered and indirect bits and pieces of evidence with very few patches of satisfying detail. While the work's organization is sound, it also makes an abstract, often dry presentation that is foreign to the Egyptian mind, an inadvertent confirmation of the Meekses' exposition of the conceptual gap. They do not try to conceal the conjectural nature of much of their reconstruction, but perhaps it ought to be emphasized more heavily for the unwary neophyte. Nevertheless, this book does a good job of synthesizing, reconstructing, and explaining a very esoteric subject.?Eugene O. Bowser, Univ. of Northern Colorado, Greeley
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

This book describes the ancient Egyptian gods' community, the structures of their society, the nature of their immortal but not invulnerable bodies, their pleasures, and their needs. The authors cite familiar traditions and little-known texts to explain the relationship of the gods to the pharaoh, who was believed to represent them on earth.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Cornell University Press (September 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801482488
• ISBN-13: 978-0801482489
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,001,188 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing approach makes for a wonderful treatment..., September 25, 1998

By	Tamara Siuda ([e-mail]) (Chicago, USA) - See all my reviews

As both an Egyptologist and student of the Egyptian religion, I found this book a welcome addition to my library as well. By presenting the "gods" as a family and writing the book as if they were studying a group or tribe of everyday mortals, much information is gleaned about the structure and organization of Egyptian religion and its expression that can be missed in more lofty, philosophically or theologically-oriented texts. Where else can you read about the bodily functions of a divinity? Bravo to the Meeks' for adding a "foundation level" to our understanding of this most beautiful faith structure.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars most original book on Egyptian religion to date, July 30, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Daily Life of the Egyptian Gods (Hardcover)

I am an Egyptologist, and I have read the manuscript of the English translation. This book is filled with a wealth of details missing from the other general books on Egyptian religion. It is my opinion that those wishing to read just one book on this subject will now have to read two: one of the other books, and this one

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction to egyptian mythology, October 24, 2008

By	Daniel Omar Badagnani (La Plata, ARGENTINA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a very readable introduction that allows the reader to know not only the mythical stories about the gods but also its relation to ancient egypt culture and politics, and the conceptions that egyptians themselves had about them.